Strong Enough to Break
by wtfbbq
Summary: Draco's job will hurt someone he has grown attached to, is he strong enough to defy The Dark Lord, or will he be too weak to stand up for what he loves.
1. Default Chapter

A/N: This is the 3rd fic I'm working on and perhaps my favorite, only second to Unexpected, maybe.

Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling and I don't own anything here. Except maybe the plot. Maybe.

Time had had its effect on Draco Malfoy, now 26. His pale face was still pale, but now it wasn't so pointed and distaining. Understanding creased his face and wisdom had finally shown its mark. 26 is young to get wrinkles, but he didn't have wrinkles, he lines of thought. Draco was a faithful Death Eater and had followed in his father's footsteps after Lucius' death a few years earlier. He no longer looked for trouble, but it always seemed to find him. Draco answered directly to the Dark Lord, who, in turn, had placed his faith in Draco. For Draco had never done anything that would cause him to lose Voldemort's trust. He always completed whatever Voldemort asked of him.

Draco was one of the "lucky" few who didn't have a conscience. For Draco this was an advantage because had he a conscience he would be gutted. He viewed massacred bodies often, and, though he winced slightly whenever he thought of it, he created them. He was a skillful assassin. This was obviously helpful for Voldemort, for Voldemort had one of the most deadly men on his side. Although no one thought that Draco was even slightly harmful, the truth was that he was more harmful than they could ever imagine. The death toll caused by him was innumerable. Whenever he thought about what he did, which wasn't often, he realized that either he had no heart or that is just didn't work.

Because of his line of duty, Draco preferred not to have any relationships because it could alter his effectiveness. This meant romantic and platonic, he had severed all relationships from his former life and had not made any new ones (_Who would want to be friends with me, anyways?_ He'd reason to himself.) He tried not to keep with the public wizard world by not reading any of the magazines (ie: Witch Weekly, The Daily Prophet, The Quibbler, etc.) and he did not gossip with the few wizards he talked to. In time he forgot who was who and who his friends supposedly were, in time he forgot about the world.

Draco would not take the risk of relationships affecting his job, but sometimes fate has other plans in mind. What Draco did not realize was that the fact that he _would not_ take the risk didn't mean that he _could not_ take it. Luckily, or unluckily depending on which way you're looking at it, fate realized this. Maybe it wasn't even fate, maybe it was just chance. He would never know, and he wouldn't care, either.

It was a very late Saturday night and Draco was just standing in front of an open fridge. He pulled out a prescription bottle of sleeping pills, opened it, and poured some into his hand. He didn't count, he didn't need to as long as they did their job. As the nights became longer, his dependency on the pills increased. At first he only needed to take one to knock him out for the night, but by now he was dry-swallowing pills by the handful. When he ran out of his prescription he would run around the track outside of his mansion until he was exhausted and he would continue to do this every night until a new prescription was owled to him. Normally doctors wouldn't encourage this kind of dependency or keep supplying he dependent patient. Normally doctors weren't under the order of the Dark Lord. These pills weren't normal pills, either. From the first day Draco had taken them the doctors had put in an addictive, unnecessary ingredient and Draco was quickly hooked; these pills were also very hard to make and took precision and time. Draco had less and less time between prescriptions as his addiction grew, Voldemort knew this and used it as an excuse to give Draco more jobs to keep him busy and if Draco had even a partial conscience before, it was quickly eradicated.

Draco soon felt the pills taking effect and wandered to his room. He attempted to lay in his bed, but there was one problem. Someone else was in it. He had no time, however, to ask questions as the full affect of the pill knocked him out cold.

_"If you drop me, Draco Malfoy, I'll die." Said a 6 year old, red haired, freckled Ginny Weasley. She and a small blonde boy were outside of the Ministry of Magic parading around the statues. She was on his shoulders (he had dared her) and he was now swaying back and forth trying to steady himself. Both of their parents were in a meeting and at that young age they'd no idea they weren't supposed to be friends, they'd no idea the rivalry that would separate them, they'd no idea that both of their hearts would harden towards each other. They were only interested in the moment, and in that moment they were having the time of their young lives._

_"Draco! I'll get hurt!" Ginny said, her voice raising slightly with a note of panic._

_"Surely not, it's not that far down." Draco smirked up at her, "Maybe it'd knock some sense into you." _

_"Are you planning on staying upright?" _

_"I don't know, I don't think I'm strong enough." It was obvious he wasn't kidding, the swaying was becoming more violent and abrupt. She whimpered and clung to Draco's neck. Draco finally lost his balance and they fell backward into the fountain._

_"You are by far the weakest 7 year old I've ever met." Ginny said crossly. Draco glared at her, he did not like being called weak._

_"Maybe you're just to heavy for me, what do they feed you at your house?" Draco was trying to extricate himself from the fountain but she tugged his wet robes and he fell back into the water._

_  
"Hey!" he yelled and splashed some water into her face._

_"ARGH!" Ginny screamed and kicked water into his eyes. She giggled as he rubbed them but soon stopped when she saw how still he was. She pulled his hands away from his eyes and saw tears. "I'm sorry," she said, "I didn't mean to hurt you." His big silver eyes glared up at her, not mad that she had hurt him but mad that she had seen him cry. _

_"Leave me alone!" he yelled and stomped back into the Ministry of Magic leaving Ginny confused. As most 6 year olds would do, she started bawling and just sat in the fountain until her dad came to take her home. When Arthur Weasley saw her wading in the fountain he rushed to get her out and dry her off. She offered no explanation and it was a good thing he didn't ask for one. _

_Draco's father had been outraged to find him soaked and asked him what had happened. Draco said he just fell into the fountain. _

_"You foolish, foolish boy," his father's eyes narrowed, "You know what is going to happen when we go home, don't you."_

_"Yes father," Draco whimpered and he immediately regretted ever meeting Ginny. He felt hot tears stinging his eyes so he turned to go to find a loo._

Draco woke up thinking he was still 7 and that he had just found the loos. But those weren't tears coming down his face, that was water. A young girl (around mid-twenties, he thought) was standing over him holding a wet washclothe over his face. She looked vaguely familiar but he couldn't think of where he had seen her before.

"Are you alright?" she said softly, then brushed her red hair out of her eyes. He just stared at her, "Uh, I guess I owe you an explanation, Malfoy."

He sputtered, "Excuse me?" his eyes widened as comprehension dawned, "Oh my God. Y-you're Ginny Weasley."

"Yes," she looked amused, "I quite think that I am."

"What're you doing here?"

"That's a long story, but I guess I owe it to you." She smiled sadly, her eyes were haunted, he noticed.

"Well, I guess it all started when your father gave me that book."

"What book?" Draco asked curiously.

"Tom Riddle's Diary," she paused seeing the surprised look on Draco's face, "Oh, you didn't know."

And she continued to explain how _exactly_ she got into Draco's bed that night.

A/N: I'm not ready to reveal Ginny's story right now. But don't worry, it will be revealed. Eventually. Comment and critique, I don't mind flames.


	2. Revealing

A/N: You guys should all be proud of me for popping out another chapter sooo soon! Amazing, non? Anyways I want to thank you guys for reviewing, it really encourages me.

Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, nor am I affiliated with her so please don't sue. All you'll get is my Draco shirt, a bunch of cds and books and a lot of earrings.

Draco dazed out while Ginny explained how she had gotten to his mansion and was thinking about his previous day. He had killed someone, but this person was different. The Dark Lord hadn't given him a name just a description of what she'd be wearing. This job had been at the Ministry of Magic in broad daylight, but he still got away with it amazingly. Of course, Draco wasn't amazed that he had gotten away with murder, literally. He had never been close to being caught and didn't plan on it. As he walked out of the Ministry he had heard screaming, sobbing and a heart-wrenching scream. He thought he heard someone calling his last name, but he didn't turn around to see who it was.

While Ginny was _still_ speaking, Draco got up rather rudely and went to his closet. He pushed a brown leather case underneath a neat stack of black shirts. He walked back out towards her and sat down on his bed.

"I was here all day, Malfoy, I was exhausted and fell asleep before you got home, I guess," Ginny finished, "Your mother said I'd be safe here."

"How," Draco's eyes narrowed, "do I know you're telling the truth? Why would my mother send a member of a family who the Malfoy's have hated ever since I can remember."

Ginny's eyes widened, it hadn't occurred to her that he wouldn't believe her. She thought at 26 he would've put the family feud behind him. It hadn't occurred to her that he'd still be holding grudges.

"And besides," Draco was now wandering towards the bathroom, "why didn't Narcissa owl me ahead of time?"

"Because she," Ginny paused, she didn't know if she should be the one to tell him the news. His eyes darkened as he tried to read her expression. Upset, confused and something else, could it have been remorse? He didn't know but he did know one thing, his mother was not okay. Perhaps not even alive. She avoided his gaze and looked up at black canopy. He exhaled and she shifted, should she tell him?

"Weasley," Draco turned around to face her," are you trying to tell me that my mother is dead?" Comprehension suddenly dawned on him, "I s'pose you tried to save her or something, and she promised you a safe haven in return."

"Basically," she said weakly, she went to exit, to give him some privacy to mourn in peace, but he wasn't crying and he didn't look upset. She opened the door and went to the kitchen. She was confused, why wasn't he upset about his mother being murdered? Why wasn't he surprised?

Draco was left in his room, just standing between his bed and his bathroom. Who would've killed his mother? Draco hadn't talked to her in ages, they only owled eachother whenever something had to be discussed. There was no small talk and there was no mushy business in their letters to each other, just monetary issues and so forth. He hadn't grown up with loving parents and had barely cared for them. They were just his financial aid, at best. When his father died, he felt slightly sad, but not heart broken. He never loved either of his parents so why should he have been hurt?

Delayed, he followed Ginny to the kitchen and just stared at her slumped against the counter. She seemed more upset than he was about his mother dying. Why? Was he inhumane? Or perhaps he was just immune to death. He didn't have any feeling about it because he dealt it out so often. He smirked, Ginny tried to save lives while he took them. If only she knew. Her pale shoulders were bared and Draco noticed goose bumps. He supposed he was immune to the cold as well, because it felt nice to him. He fetched a black robe and threw it at her. It hit her and her figure reacted with surprise. She laughed out loud and thanked him in a soft voice. Ginny felt the tension relax as they joked around. She would be living here for an indefinite amount of time so they needed to be comfortable with each other. As comfortable as two ex-enemies could be. Ginny thought it was more the fact that Narcissa had given this as a last request than of Draco's general hospitality (which was very low, as it was).

"I'm hungry," Draco said opening the fridge and staring into the innumerable amount of food that filled it, "Let's go out."

"What?" she asked incredulously, "You have 7 types of breakfast food alone!"

"So?" he said pointedly but rolled his eyes at her glare, "I guess I should show you where you can stay."

"I'll have my own room?"

"Did you want to sleep on the floor or something?" he asked, smirking, "Oh, I get it, you were hoping you could pull a stunt like last night _every_ night, 'fraid not, Weasley."

"I didn't- I wasn't-"

"Too right you weren't." he said, raising his eyebrows as if he didn't believe her, "This way then, I'll give you the closest room to mine so it will make your -er- urges more bearable."

"Malfoy!" she said trying her best not to smile, "You know that- you know I don't."

Draco grinned, "Technically, I don't." Draco walked past his room to a pair of French doors. He opened one of them and gestured for her to follow him in.

Ginny gasped. It was one of the most beautiful rooms she had ever seen, "This is," she said slowly, "Wow."

He looked amused at her amazement, "Indeed." He thought the room was pretty nice as well, but this was his house and he had had this guest room built, just in case there was a guest. It was very tidy and neat. The bed had black silk sheets with black and green pillows. The walls were a forest green and had a serpent border. The bathroom was nicer than Draco's and was obviously made for a woman because there was a vanity and a large walk in closet.

Ginny snorted. "What?" Draco asked.

She smirked, "It's just that," she looked around the room again, "it's weird to be sleeping in such a Slytherin room when I'm -well, you know- a Gryffindor. It's surreal. It's really nice though." Ginny heard a trickling of water, "Is that….?"

"A waterfall?" Draco finished for her, "Yes, it is." On one of the walls there was a waterfall flowing over it and splashing into a pond like body of water. The pond had been concealed by the large canopies of her bed and now that she was able to see beyond she realized was even bigger than she had first thought. It was huge and there was a pond. In a room. She couldn't believe it.

"Why don't you stay in here?" she asked, curiously.

"Because I hate ponds and other large bodies of waters."

"So why have one in your house."

"Because others might like ponds and other large bodies of water."

"Others?" she raised an eyebrow, "Like who?"

"You know, visitors, guests, etcetera."

"You have visitors?"

"You sound so surprised." He said in a mock hurt voice.

"Well," she grinned, "Do you?"

"You're the first," he said reluctantly, "But you like ponds."

"And other bodies of water."

"_Large_ bodies of water, thank you."

"So eager to please, Malfoy, so eager to please."

"I am not!" he looked cross, he looked like a little boy.

"Too right you aren't," Ginny smirked, "If I hated water then I wouldn't have a pond built in my house."

"You know, it's your fault I hate large bodies of water."

"What? You are delusional."

"Am I?" he looked affronted, "You mean you don't remember?" he widened his eyes innocently, mock horrified.

"I remember you crying." Ginny said viciously, looking up innocently at him.

"I remember you nearly drowning me." Draco said pointedly.

"I actually hate bodies of water, too." Ginny said, looking at the pond with something other than hate.

"Yeah?"

"But this one is nice, it's soothing."

"We'll see how soothing you think it is when you wake up in it, if you even wake up." Draco muttered loudly enough for her to hear as he walked out of the room.

"What?" Ginny sputtered, she glared at the back of his figure. "Maybe this time, when I try to drown you it will actually work."

"I heard that, you bint."

"Er-oh."

"You Weasleys are all so loud."

"Yeah? Well…" Ginny started, but she realized Draco was already in the hallway and that yelling at him from her room would seem childish. Not that they had been doing anything childish earlier.

-&-

_"Visitor, to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is lovated at the far end of the Atrium." Said a cool, female voice emitting from a telephone box. Ginny smiled, no matter how successful the Ministry was, they wouldn't replace the old telephone box. It held memories and thousands of important and famous people passed through it before her. _

_"C'mon, c'mon." Ginny said impatiently. The long ride down to the actual ministry was always made longer if you were alone. "Any day now." _

_"Ms. Weasley," a fragile-looking blonde woman said to her in greeting as she got out of the telephone box, "Haven't seen you in a while."_

_Ginny looked at the lady, she didn't recognize her right away because her face was shadowed by a fur hat she was wearing, "No, Mrs. Malfoy, you have not. I've been working out of the office lately. How are you?" Ginny said, trying to hide the coldness in her voice. She knew very well that Narcissa didn't not like her -or her family, for that matter- but maintained a casual manner._

_"Fine, just fine." Narcissa smiled, but her smile did not reach her eyes, "And you?"_

_"Pretty good, I'm just stopping by to pick up a form for my brother."_

_"Oh?" Naricssa said distractedly, she was looking past Ginny. "How -er- lovely."_

_Ginny followed her gaze and turned around. A dark figure, who's face was completely covered except for two light eyes, was walking towards them. "Uh, do you know that, uh, person?"_

_"No. I don't." The person was walking with determination in every step. Ginny blinked as the synthetic light from outside caught something metal. ' Hang on', Ginny thought, 'something metal?' Ginny gasped as the metal object was revealed. A throwing star. The person held one up as if to aim and then threw it. "Nar-," Ginny started to say, but realized that saying something would help nothing if the star got to Narcissa before she could finish what she was saying. Ginny pushed Mrs. Malfoy quickly out of the way as a lock of her hair fell to the floor. A strawberry red chunk. Ginny just stared at it. Then, after what seemed like a year, she looked back at the figure, or she would have if he'd still been there. He had vanished. "MALFOY!" she cried out and looked around her for the elderly blonde woman. She didn't have to search far for Narcissa was on the floor with a throwing star in her neck. Ginny whimpered as blood gushed everywhere._

_"Oh, god." Ginny muttered._

_Narcissa's eyes fluttered open and she said in a raspy voice, a voice with pleading and despair, "Go to my son, he'll give you refuge. This might have been an attempt to kill you to so-" Narcissa gasped, "s-so please accept my help. They can't find you there. He'll-." But what Draco would do, Ginny never found out because Narcissa's mouth became slack and her eyes glazed over. _

_Ginny looked around and saw medi-wizards coming towards her. They shushed her out of the way and she ran as fast as she could to the nearest fire. She rushed into it and then she grabbed a handful of floo powder and said, "Draco Malfoy's Manor." In a whistle of green flames she was gone. _

"Weasley?" A loud knock came from outside of Ginny's room and it forced her out of her dreamy-state. She looked at her surroundings, quite forgetting for a moment where she was, and was amazed all over again. It seemed to be around 4 p.m and the sun was nearly setting. The view from her room was amazing. She walked closer to her window to get a closer look, "What?" she said loudly as her foot had just gotten soaked. She looked down and remembered the pond. "Oh," she said softly as comprehension dawned, and then, remember the knock she went to the door, "Yeah?" she said breathlessly. Draco was standing in the hallway looking a bit awkward.

"Woah," Draco said, his eyes wide, "Er, would you like to get something to eat?" He asked looking anywhere but at her. Ginny looked down in alarm and then made a strangled yelp.

"Oh God," she said quickly and nearly jumped behind the door, "Sorry, uh, sure, just give me a moment to dress." She looked down again as she closed the door to his unabashed face. She was only in some black boxers she had found in the closet and her pink bra. She opened the door again to see Draco still standing outside in the hallway looking a bit flustered, "Uh, Draco, do you think we could go shopping? I have no clothes. Or maybe I could just floo home."

"We can stop by Diagon Alley, if you wish."

"No!" Ginny nearly yelled, she didn't want to put herself into more danger or to put him into it. She hadn't told Draco of his mother's suspicions and was deciding whether or not she should. "I'll just floo home if that's alright," she said and closed the door again. She put on the robe that he had given to her earlier and went to the fireplace near the kitchen.

-&-

"Ginny?" Molly Weasley called out as she saw her daughter emerge from her fireplace.

"Damn," Ginny muttered, and then a little louder, "Hi, mum, don't mind me, I'll just be off in a second."

"What're you wearing?"

"About that, mum, just trust me, you don't want to know. I'll be home as soon as it's safe."

"Safe?"

"Owl me, Errol will find me."

"Ginny!" Molly exclaimed, her face red, "What on _EARTH_ are you talking about?"

"You'll understand later, I promise." Ginny then rushed to her room and magically packed up the majority of her belongings. Then something hit her, literally. A book had just hit her head, she looked up and saw Ron, "What are you all doing in my apartment?" she asked, as if she hadn't thought of the question earlier. It was a very valid question as well, why _were_ her mum and brother both in her apartment?

"I stopped by to get a recipe book." Ginny's mom said reasonably. Ron looked around, avoiding both of the women's gaze.

"I was -er-," then he muttered something inaudible.

"Yeah, whatever, don't ask, don't tell. Just get out." She said shooing them out of her house. Once Ron and Molly were both disgruntled and on Ginny's porch Ginny dragged her suitcases to the fireplace. "Draco Malfoy Manor." Ginny said and for the 3rd time in two days she was whisked away in a puff of green flames and smoke.

-&-

Draco was lounging on a wide armchair reading The Rise and Fall of Grindelwald when Ginny stepped out of his fireplace positively filthy. "Before we go to lunch, you might want to take a shower," he said without looking up from his book and then added, "I know it might be a new procedure for you, but I'd be happy to help if you have any trouble."

"You're despicable," Ginny said cheerfully and started to drag her trunks to her room.

"Leave them."

"I'm sorry?" Ginny said, looking at Draco in an odd way.

"I said leave them."

"Are they just going to magically get to my room?" She asked, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, actually." Draco replied and continued to read. He heard her leave and retreat to her room. When he heard the shower turn on he got up and started to pull her luggage into her room. "What is in this? Rocks?" he said to no one in particular but continued to pull. By the time he reached her room, Draco was sweating and his hair was messy. "Damn!" he yelled.

"Magically, eh?" an amused voice called from behind him.

"This is pretty magical." Draco said nonchalantly, "It's a miracle I didn't make you lug your 40 pound bags into your room yourself." Draco turned to face Ginny. He tried not to look surprised, but he was. She was in a black towel and he face was flushed. Her hair was combed straight around her head and she looked gorgeous.

"Can I get changed, Malfoy?"

"Go ahead." He said, smiling innocently.

"Oh whatever, get out." He put on a disappointed face and walked out to her giggling.

"Draco Malfoy, what have you gotten yourself into?" he asked himself, he could not get involved with her, he absolutely could not. But it seemed inevitable and as much as Draco didn't want to admit it, he wouldn't mind it.

A/N: I'm sorry for any grammatical errors, my grammar sucks! I'm sorry, I need a beta! If you're interested, please e-mail me at I'll try to have the next chapter out in a week or less. I'm going on vacation though, so I can't promise anything. If you have any plot questions or whatever feel free to e-mail me.

As always, I adore comments and reviews. Criticize me if you wish, flame me if you want, praise me if you will. Hah.


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